I love blasting warpers with a repulsor though. “No, F you Mr. Warper!”
Warper Wrangling is not as much fun as Reaper Rodeo.
[Deep breaths…deep breaths…you’ll be fine, man…you’ve done this before…just don’t think about…anything. Deep breaths…]
Okay, I got roped into blowing thirty bucks on this on the recommendation of a Doper who said that Creative mode allows you to build anything you want right out of the bat and it’s impossible to die (which is true, much like it’s true that as long as you never, ever leave Peaceful in Minecraft you won’t get killed constantly two seconds after sunset). So I explored for a bit in Creative, which was how I was able to discover that:
- There’s zero indication anywhere of where you should be going. (That big burning ship? Oh yeah, I tried that. I bumped my nose a lot. Sure, there’s a way to find the entrance somewhere. There a way everything somewhere in this damn game.)
- There’s zero indication anywhere of what kind of tasks you’re supposed to be accomplishing here.
- There’s zero indication of where to find supplies.
- There’s zero indication anywhere of how to accomplish these tasks.
- Literally the entire world is covered in a substance that will quite literally kill you in a matter of seconds the moment you leave the safe cocoon of Creative (Casual? I’m sorry, it’s a been a while and the Wiki is just a tad unwieldy.), and of course is completely undrinkable (mainly because it’s contaminated, as it turns out, but I’ll get to that in a bit).
- To kill an animal requires awkwardly swinging a little bitty chunk of metal, in an environment which said animal is fast and agile in and an air-breathing warm-blooded mammal most definitely is not, which, incidentally, is the only weapon you get in the entire game. (And we criticized Rush 'n Attack?)
- Method for dealing with large predator: Either run like hell (because it’s completely immune to all damage) or use some wimpy pathetic nonlethal piece of junk straight from a fourth rate 80’s arcade or NES game, and pray that it actually works.
“What, you just want everything SPOONFED to you, is that it?” Yeah, that’d be nice, at least in the early going. That’s why mobile games have tutorials, doncha know (and in many cases the tutorial was as far as I got). Heck, even Minecraft is full of tips, as is Divinity. How helpful these tips are is debatable, but at least they’re trying. I mean, if I’m just going to get thrown into this supremely hostile, incredibly lethal, uncharted world, I think a basic gameplan isn’t too much to ask.
Oh, and now I’m hearing that when I get deep, I have jumpscares to look forward to! Lovely! :mad:
Huh…this is one of those things which pretty much nobody is willing to admit not liking (except, y’know, me), which is tough enough when I’m trying to get the concept of “I’m having trouble with this and I need help!” across, and the worst part is that I don’t even understand why it’s getting a free pass on so many things that I consider absolute non-starters. I mean, I get the whole South Park punching down, don’t give a crap about anything, cheap to produce and what does Comedy Central have that’s any better dealy, but what is the appeal about being completely lost and getting killed every ten seconds unless you take the exact correct actions which are not indicated at all in-game?
Anyway…I bought this online so I can give it another go if I ever feel like it, but I need some help on some really basic stuff. I’ll skip the stuff on hunting and water collection since I’m never going to go above level-immediately-above-Creative anyway.
First off, what is the bare minimum to rocket the hell off of the planet on Creative? I’ve accepted the fact that this is the type of game that’s going to make me jump through a hundred hoops, but at least I’d like to know where the hoops are. As I understand it, the main objective is to cure the infection that’s tainted all the water on the planet, which necessitates going to a certain location. It’s the same location any time, it’s not random or anything, right? And the ship somehow has the first clue? And something in it will tell me where to go? Or something it points to? Or something? Seriously, this story sounds like it has the potential to become fairly intriguing, I just want to experience it!
Once I’ve gotten that out of the way and moved up to LIAC, what kind of stuff am I going to need to not die constantly? I’m hoping that there’s some dependable long-term air supply, but given how many of you are talking about running out of air and the incredible nerve-wracking tension of being somewhere deep and running out of air, running out of air, hurry, hurry, you’re going to die! (ah, a lovely complement to going deep and nearly getting a heart attack every two minutes! :mad:), I have my doubts. I also heard some stuff about “dodging leviathans”, but I haven’t heard any actual techniques, and again, you are the mouse, they are the cat-shaped nuclear quicksilver thunderbolt of mass destruction. Are you supposed to read their movements? Run and hide in one of your structures? Just wing it? I mean, I’ve run like hell from numerous confrontations in Assassin’s Creed, so I’m not too proud for that, but only if there isn’t a better option.
Where do I find resources? What kind of resources will I need? What kind of tools will I need? Is there ever any danger of running out?
Will there be horrible deadly enemies jumping in out of nowhere in the depths, and if so, how do I deal with them?
Will there be critical resource shortages, and if so, how do I deal with this?
Is there a good chance that the invincible indestructible monstrous terrifying apocalyptic mass destruction machines will either steal, destroy, or cause serious damage to something critically important and/our expensive to produce, and if so, how do I deal with that (or better yet, prevent it)?
I’ve played this, and I can see the potential for, if not a great game, than at least a fairly interesting experience, but I really, really, SUPER DUPER HONEST TO YUKARI need to walk before I can run. Thank you.
Oh, and if you’re just going to say that I’m a pathetic useless noob and I whine too much and I suck…I already know that. 
I hate to tell you this, but when you start a game in creative, it tells you, “Oxygen, food, pressure, story, and death disabled.” (emphasis added) I’ve not played much in creative, but my kids have, and AFAICT you’re not going to get all the cool things you get in survival, like radio messages and location coordinates. Creative is just a chance to noodle around and build things.
I strongly recommend restarting the game in survival mode, and taking it slow. In survival mode, for the first few hours of play you get plenty of little quests, mostly consisting of visiting new locations, where you can read new blogs.
You don’t need to kill fish in order to catch them. Just click on them. Peepers are advanced prey; stick to the hoverfish and the little gas-bag-like fish to begin with.
Build a knife as soon as you can.
Don’t worry about the ship until you’re feeling pretty spiff.
You could also start in freedom mode, but honestly I think the need for food is pretty fun. Something about being at very low food and then cooking a couple of fish is so satisfying.
In DKW’s defense, it was suggested that playing the game in creative mode just lowers the difficulty. I don’t blame him for being confused and frustrated.
Yeah, I’m not in any way saying he’s a dummy or anything. Just that the thing that’s frustrating him is fixable, but not in the save file he’s currently playing.
Others have already addressed Creative mode as the reason you’re not getting story prompts and advice; it’s mostly for building crazy bases. To address some of your other questions:
Resources are scattered all over the place, starting with basic ones near the lifepod, with more exotic ones appearing in other locations. The cycle basically works like this: explore->find some resources->use resources to make gear to explore farther/deeper->find new resources and blueprints->use new resources to make fancier gear. The story will, at times, prompt you to make certain things or look for certain things in order to advance, and these prompts will push you to explore various areas. This continues until you can go anywhere you want in the game. (In style, if that’s what floats your boat–my Cyclops is quite fancy.)
The resources you need most are pretty common (you’ll use titanium and quartz in bulk, and they’re pretty much everywhere). It’s possible to pick an area clean, but there’s a lot of areas to scrounge in, and disassembling base components gives you all the resources back, so you’d have to go really nuts with building in survival mode to run out of anything.
One of the most crucial tools is the scanner. It’s easy to make, you start with the blueprint, and you can use it to get what amounts to a wikipedia entry on damn near anything on the planet. Scan anything the pops up a scan icon when you point the scanner at it, and read the results. If the thing you scan is at all useful, the page that you get will tell you what it’s good for; it’ll tell you that you can get copper and titanium from this kind of rock, silver and gold from that type, and so on. Scanning bits and pieces of machinery gets you blueprints.
Horrible deadly enemies do not jump out at you from nowhere. There are deadly creatures, but it’s not like in Minecraft, where the sun goes down and suddenly a dozen zombies pop up and start running toward you. The dangerous creatures in Subnautica are not evil monsters out to get you personally; they’re just predators in their natural environment, doing what predators do. You’ll usually see and hear them before you get close enough that they’ll come after you; they’ll try to eat you if you get close, but they’re mostly not very persistent about chasing you. You can watch them from a distance, see how they act, and usually just avoid getting in their way. (Or you can be a lunatic like me and ride them around.) If you get careless–and you eventually will–some of the smaller predators might get close enough to bite you, which is startling, but doesn’t do a lot of damage. This is not a game about killing dangerous things; it does not encourage you to do so, nor does it reward you if you manage it–the predators aren’t even edible. Your best options are to avoid them, and to chase the little ones off with a knife, if necessary–most of them will sensibly try to swim away from you if you hurt them.
Most people end up losing a Seamoth (the little minisub) to something at some point, but they’re not all that expensive to make. I never lost one, though. If you keep it at full repair, it can survive the first hit from most things, and it’s fast enough to scoot away from them. If you study the predators and learn where they go and how close you can get before they become aggressive, you can almost always just go around them. You can also make upgrades for it that will make it tougher and even give it a shock-field to chase things off.
The Cyclops is moderately expensive to make, but it’s also quite tough, and it can be upgraded with a very powerful shield (among other things). I’ve taken it right into the territories of the most dangerous critters in the game, and never felt the ship was really in trouble. Bases, of course, can be as expensive as you want to make them…so just don’t build expensive bases in predator territory.
On the whole, survival mode in Subnautica is less dangerous than in Minecraft. The biggest threat is just forgetting about air or pushing the limits of its capacity. You’ll expand that capacity early on, but it will always remain sharply limited; the O2 meter applies constant tension while you’re exploring, but you can take a break from it just by ducking back into your little minisub or suit–those never run out of air as long as they have power.
Oh, and you do get other weapons later, but they’re all nonlethal…unless you get creative. 
Or you can be like me and take the crazy tack of scanning all the predators, especially the leviathans. (The plankton eating leviathans don’t count, they’re little more than moving rocks. With some sweet heavy elements to mine. Except, there’s inevitably tiger plants. Stupid tiger plants. They’re more annoying than any predator, IMO.)
Anyway, the only way to scan predators is from the business end. It’s interesting staring down a leviathan’s maw so that you scan the thing.
But I’ve never died from a leviathan. I have died from a tiger plant. As others have said, most predators don’t want to eat you. You don’t taste good. But they are very territorial. Especially the stalkers, who like metal, which is why they aggressively attack your ships sometimes. But generally, you’ll be able to get a stalkers tooth out of it when they do.
Also, don’t swim with the predators prey.
A really good general guide is here: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/763304-subnautica/faqs/76398
Ha! I needed stalker teeth… I had been just lucking out on one here and there. So I decided to go look purposely. Filled up my inventory with teeth in about 20 minutes. Still haven’t used them all.
Oh, I scanned everything, useful or not, dangerous or not.
I found a nice spot not too far from my base, built a couple of stand-alone foundations, and piled scrap on them. Then I hatched a pair of stalkers and turned them loose at the scrap piles. When I needed teeth, I’d just go by, feed them some fish, and collect the teeth they’d dropped while playing with the scrap. (This is not a remotely efficient way to get the teeth, BTW, I just thought it was fun.)
For future reference, any fish you hatch and release should be non-hostile.
Interesting idea, however. I generally just go for the scanner route when there’s something I need. That and the chip are fantastic.
Yeah, I got to a point where I needed a bunch of enameled glass and had no teeth to use. I went to my scanner room (which I’d built but never really used) and searched for teeth. It showed me where I could get more than 20 just laying around bunched up together. It was much more than I needed but now I have a stockpile. 
Well, yes, they’re non-hostile, but it seemed polite to bring them a treat when I went to visit. Like I said, I did it that way because I was having fun with it. (I didn’t really use scanner rooms at that point, because they were substantially less than fantastic for quite a while. They work much better now.)
Random Below Zero notes: Sea trucks are a lot of work to make. Bladderfish are extinct, but creepvine seed clusters are full of water. That deep, empty place under the Twisty Bridges with the scary sounds is no longer empty…but is still scary-sounding.
Balance - It’s strange how the simple act of making progress in this game is one of those things that nobody seems interested in talking about. (Much like the new-and-catastrophically-unimproved combat in Assassin’s Creed, which I haven’t found any kind of in-depth analysis about…all I remember is “the shield that poisons on a successful block” and something about a guard break…but that’s another thread.) Hey, thanks a ton. Finally, something to go on.
Sooooo, Creative doesn’t have any actual gameplay, it’s just to let your imagination run free. Huh. That’s a bit of a bummer. See, the reason I got this in the first place was that after the many, many headaches I’ve gotten with various PS4 games (long, painful thread here), I welcomed a game where it was literally impossible to die at all. The problem is, if there’s no purpose, no structure, well, what’s the point? I want to accomplish something in my games, go from nothing to something, turn effort into reward. To give an example, building Rome up from a broken-down shantytown into a wealthy, beautiful metropolis in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood was one of my most satisfying video game experiences ever. If all I wanted was to not get driven bonkers by a game, I could’ve just not bought the game in the first place, which would’ve freed up time and energy for other things and saved me thirty clams. And unfortunately, I’m not a super-creative type willing to spend hours or days perfecting a masterpiece (the main reason Minecraft found the trash roughly twenty seconds after the Witch showed up, may she burn in Hell). I mean, if you’re a maestro, great (no, really, that’s great! :)); I continue to be awestruck by Minecraft sculptures, machines, and other assorted wonders, but it’s not the sort of thing I have the creative spark for.
So it’s…whazzit called, “Freedom”?..or bust. Okay, I get the gist of the basic gameplay. One more question: How much oxygen deprivation is there? Let’s get one thing clear: I don’t handle stress well. At all. I had to give up the higher difficulties on Wolfenstein 3D precisely because that enemy popping out of nowhere and erasing fifteen minutes of work in one second just got too much to take (and this was a time where I was all but living video games). I have blood pressure issues. I don’t want “You’re running out of air! You’re running out of air! Hurry! Hurrrrryyyyyy!” to become a regular occurrence. My other big fear is that it’s going to be the stratospheric difficulty spike that takes me out of the game for good. I mean, the whole thing sounds like a colossally ham-handed bait and switch to begin with…“Here’s this handy device which allows you to remain underwater indefinitely! Oops, we made this area where you can’t use it, and it just so happens to have stuff you’ll need later! Too bad, sucks to be you!”…but if the end result is an item I can’t get, a task I can’t complete, that is an absolute dealbreaker. I don’t care if the roadblock happens 10%, 40%, or 99.9% of the way in; dead is dead.
Some video links would be nice!
Oxygen is always a thing, but it is never a major thing. It’s a little fast-cycle engagement device. You have to pay attention to it, but there’s not going to be any point in the game where you have to run your O2 down to the wire in order to progress. The most you can extend the meter is to just under 4 minutes of air, and you’ll also need to craft a rebreather, so that your oxygen doesn’t run out faster at deeper depths. The good news is that you will be making small vehicles that can go pretty much everywhere that have unlimited air. There are a few small caves that may be too tight for the Seamoth to fit through, but they’re not all that extensive; you can park the Seamoth at the entrance, go in and poke around for a couple of minutes, and come right back out to top off on air. For that matter, I took my Cyclops, a relatively huge submarine that hauls the smaller vehicles and can operate as a self-sufficient base right to the very end-game area. I basically parked my mobile base at the curb in front of Finale Station.
Once you upgrade your gear, the game will remind you when you’re down to 30 seconds of air; if that stresses you out or annoys you, just go back to top off a little earlier.
There is no giant difficulty spike. There are no tricks. The game never really becomes difficult. It’s a game about exploring, avoiding conflict, and engineering a solution. Steady, methodical, and careful will take you all the way through. (Yes, some of us are swapping stories about crazy things we do in the game…but those are self-imposed challenges. You will never have to ride a reaper, knife a warper to death, or scan a leviathan to progress.)
This may not be constructive, but here’s a playlist from Markiplier, who is actually phobic about the ocean and deep water, playing the entire game, from beta through full release: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3tRBEVW0hiBkczi51cX7egr8X5qZhVqK
(Spoiler: He gets scared a lot.)
For contrast, here is jacksepticeye’s crazed, loud, enthusiastic, and very Irish playlist of the full release: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMBYlcH3smRwM6cyq5mKf9FSHy0_h8F4K
Since these are both full playthroughs, they will obviously be full of spoilers for the game, but if you want see someone else get scared by the predators first, so you know what to expect…both those guys are really bad at being careful.
This game’s not for you.
I realize this may be harsh. However, I don’t think the game has a mode that matches what you seem to want–that is, a mode where death is impossible and where there’s no stress, but where there’s a story to complete.
Even in freedom mode, the oxygen meter is going to be there–and the (well-earned) jump-scares are gonna be around. I’m at a place in the game where I’m seeking a chasm that’s south-southeast of my last landmark, and I spent about 15 minutes last night dodging terrible predators while looking for that stupid chasm, to no avail.
It’s not an especially difficult game, but you can’t play it in a stress-free fashion and still get the story.
Balance gives amazing advice, if you’re willing to put up with some stress. But if you’re really opposed to stress, I recommend Stardew Valley.
A game with no stress? That sounds kinds boring, doesn’t it?
You could play Survival mode, but turn on godmode in the console. Infinite food, health, and Oxygen. But I’m not sure what you’ll get out of the game, at that point. A big part of this game is, you’re told “there’s something cool 1 km west of this location you’ve found, 900 meters down” - only you can’t go down 900 meters and survive yet, so you have a goal – go and build a sub and better air tanks and a depth module to reach 900 meters.
With no oxygen meter, you could just lazily swim over and down with no issue. At that point, why even bother? Just launch the game, use the console to spawn the rocket, and finish the game.
Well, I for one hate ‘timers’ in games too. Basically anything that involves ‘omg you have to sleep/eat/drink/breathe in this amount of time or you die’. So you can do what I did regarding oxygen and it makes the game MUCH more enjoyable. I may get some flack for admitting that but you know what? I was able to still really enjoy the game. It was still challenging and the story was engaging and I have no regrets!